‘Food has always been medicine’: Siblings start traditional food truck business to give back
UPPER FRUITLAND
Diné siblings Justin and Tia Pioche strive to serve the Four Corners area high-quality meals from their food truck, Pioche Food Group.
Picohe Food Group, or PFG, is a Navajo-owned and -operated food company that started providing high-quality meals in 2019 and became a business in 2020. The goal is to promote Navajo history, culture, and traditional practice to Diné communities.
Justin Pioche, an executive chef for PFG, started his culinary career at 17 when he joined the Farmington Mexican restaurant, Francisco’s. At the restaurant, he was mentored in fine dining and noticed the head cook managed the kitchen like a French chef.
Navajo Times | Cyrus Norcross
Justin Pioche stands by his logo, PFG, meaning Picohe Food Group, Jan. 21.
Learning about fine dining from Francisco’s staff, led Pioche to enroll in a culinary program at Central New Mexico Community College located in Albuquerque.
Pioche disenrolled from
Food trucks changing business model during pandemic
As businesses struggle throughout the pandemic, some food truck owners adjusted their business plan to make more business for themselves.
AUSTIN, Texas — Throughout the pandemic, small businesses bore the brunt of losing customers. As a silver lining to the past 20 months, food trucks found a way to stay afloat – and even grow.
“I’ve worked from Leander all the way to San Marcos,” Orlandus Stafford, co-owner of O’s Chop House and Jerk Daddy’s, said. “I’ve also done catering. I’ve done two weddings, one of 300… We’ve done birthdays. We’ve done quinceañeras, we’ve done a lot of things outside of our pop-up environment. But other than that, the HOA’s and the apartments have been very, very good to us.”
Stafford opened his first food service business, O’s Chop House, in August 2020. He made it a family affair: partnering with his brother for the business, welcoming his kids inside
Youngkin cooks Indian food before talking with business owners
HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin adorned an apron and cooked Indian food before meeting with small business owners in Henrico’s West End.
The Republican visited India K’Raja on West Broad Street on Thursday afternoon for a roundtable discussion with the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce.
Prior to the meeting, Youngkin cooked Indian bread and chicken tikka masala with restaurant owner Tony Sappal.
“We really enjoyed our event listening from leaders from the Asian Chamber Commerce community,” Youngkin told CBS 6 following the discussion. “What we heard over and over again was aspirations to grow their businesses and some challenges that they are facing.”
Youngkin was joined by Del. Rodney Willet (D-Henrico) and State Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant (R-Henrico) as he touted the meeting as bipartisan.
He applauded the work of Sarah Bice, the first Chinese American to own a real estate company in Glen Allen. She started her professional